


My Heart Burns For You

by accidentallyanoctopus



Series: Any Way To Your Wild Heart (Nathiego) [2]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: But he wasn't a member of the academy, Dates, Falling In Love, Fireworks, First Kiss, Fluff, Given that he looks pretty much just like me, M/M, Mentions of past trauma/neglect, Nathan is one of the 43, Nathan is sorta-kinda a self-insert, Shut up I'm a grown man and I can do what I want, So much fucking fluff, Trans Male Characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2020-03-06 12:28:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18851080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/accidentallyanoctopus/pseuds/accidentallyanoctopus
Summary: Illegal fireworks, a picnic, and an abandoned parking lot. What more could Diego Hargreeves' personal favorite pyromaniac ask for?





	My Heart Burns For You

**Author's Note:**

> Nathan Logan is my sort-of kind-of self-insert. He's a non-Academy member of the 43 and a gay trans man. His abilities are that he can burn things and set them on fire by touching them, and he is also completely fireproof.

“Are we there yet?” Nathan asks for what has to be the thousandth time. “It's been like a million years!”

Diego rolls his eyes good-naturedly. Normally, if someone other than Nathan was being a pain in the ass, he'd yell at them or maybe even hit them. But this is Nathan, his boyfriend. Even if he is an annoying shit sometimes, Diego likes him a lot. And that's rare for him. To actually like another person as much as he likes Nathan.

“About 10 more minutes, and we'll be there. Look out the window, enjoy the scenery. It's so nice and quiet out here.”

“You sound like my dad,” Nathan huffs, but he does indeed turn to look out the window. The sun is low in the sky, the colors of the sunset blending into the colors of the autumn leaves blending into the colors of the barren, harvested farmland. The rich reds and vibrant oranges remind Diego, fittingly, of fire. But the scenery isn't the main reason they're this far out into the countryside.

Finally, Diego pulls over into the parking lot for a long-abandoned feed store, the brick building nothing but a foundation and scattered stones. Nathan looks around, expectant but confused.

“All the pretty lakes and forests we've passed, and you've chosen to stop in a parking lot?”

“There's a good reason for that,” Diego replies, turning off the ignition and tossing Nathan the keys. “Go check out what's in the trunk.”

Diego smiles to himself as Nathan darts from the vehicle, almost tripping over himself in his excitement. The other man's childlike enthusiasm is so damn endearing. He hears the click-whoosh sound of the trunk being opened, and Nathan's shriek of joy, and mentally pats himself on the back.

“OH MY GOD, DIEGO, YOU DIDN'T!”

Diego exits the car and walks over to his boyfriend nonchalantly. He's got a big, cheesy grin on his face though, one he absolutely cannot hide.

“This is so AWESOME!” Nathan yells, looking at Diego with wide, sparkling eyes. “Holy shit, Diego! You're the best boyfriend ever!”

He dashes back over to the trunk and starts pulling out the packages, making excited noises every time he discovers a new one. Illegal fireworks, boxes and boxes of them. Diego has spent months searching for and collecting them, ordering them online, spending his hard-earned cash. They're easy to find if you know where to look, and the cops tend to turn a blind eye to most transactions. And it's honestly worth getting caught and fined just to see the look on Nathan's face right now.

“Are these Catherine Wheels? I didn't even know you could get those for consumer use! And Judas Belts, and Roman Candles, and Girandolas, and.... holy fucking shit!”

Nathan holds up a package of round, green fireworks.

“Fucking Dragon's Eggs! The good ones, too, not the shitty new ones! And Saxons! God, are these all for me?”

Diego chuckles. “Who else would they be for, huh? You're the only pyromaniac with superpowers that I know of.”

He can't help but feel proud of himself as he watches Nathan gleefully sort the brightly-colored packages by type. He's really done something good here, something that makes his boyfriend happy. And if there's one thing Nathan really does deserve, it's happiness. His powers, much like Diego's late brother Ben's, have caused the man to be ostracized and feared for most of his life. And though it may make sense; after all, who wouldn't be a bit nervous around a guy can set things on fire by merely touching them?, it's still not fair.

Granted, Nathan doesn't really make things easy on himself. He's a natural showoff, a performer, someone who uses his powers to gain attention and notoriety. And it gets him in trouble more often than not. Nathan Logan has probably been arrested more times than Diego and his brother Klaus combined, and that's really saying something. It's part of the reason Diego took them so far out of the city tonight.

“You know, there's more than just fireworks in there,” Diego says. He walks over to the back of the car, and pulls out a large picnic basket. “We've got dinner in here too. Sandwiches, chips and soda, and homemade brownies.” All handmade by Grace Hargreeves, of course.

Nathan takes the basket from him, setting it down on the ground and opening the lid. Grace had arranged the food and utensils neatly inside under a picnic blanket. Diego will have to thank her again when he gets back home, judging by the delighted look on Nathan's face when the spread is revealed.

“We've still got some light left,” Diego continues, “so I think maybe we'll eat first and then set off the fireworks.”

“Sounds like a plan to me!” Nathan grins over at him again, and Diego feels a fluttering sensation inside him. The one he feels whenever he makes Nathan happy, or when they spend time alone together, or when Nathan looks at him like he's the best person in the whole world. It's not a familiar feeling, but at least it's a nice one.

“Your mom makes one hell of a sandwich, Dee,” Nathan says through a mouthful of roast beef. The two men are sitting on the picnic blanket, watching the sun fade into the cool darkness of night. “I fucking love roast beef, man. It's so good.”

He's clearly nervous, babbling like this. About five minutes ago, Nathan had cautiously leaned against Diego, a bare hand tentatively resting on the other man's knee. He keeps staring down at it every few seconds, as if to make sure he's not burning Diego on accident. It's a legitimate concern, one that has made intimacy, or even casual contact, difficult between the two of them. And it's not as if either of them are crazy about being touched or touching others, anyway.

Diego doesn't know all that much about his boyfriend's past, but he does know that people have been afraid of touching Nathan since he was an infant. That even now he'll sometimes put on bulky fireproof gloves when he has to go out in public, or wear layers and layers of clothing in an attempt to smother his internal inferno. He can't imagine what kind of effect it's had on his psyche, to be treated as hazardous all his life. It's probably a major contributing factor to his pyromania, his obsession with fire like an act of defiance. And of course, Diego has his own reasons for disliking physical contact.

In an attempt to comfort Nathan, or maybe to show that he's not afraid of the other man, Diego sets his own hand on top of Nathan's, interlacing their fingers together. Nathan shifts uncomfortably, and for an awful second Diego thinks he's done something wrong, that Nathan is going to pull his hand away. But he doesn't. He just looks up at Diego with this weird mixture of fear and adoration, and snuggles even closer to him before continuing to eat his sandwich. They spend the rest of the meal like that, holding hands, talking nervously about different things, catching eachother's eyes and then looking away.

Once the food is all gone and the sun has completely set, Nathan stands up abruptly, a familiar excited grin on his face.

“Okay, it's fireworks time, bitch!” he says, darting back over towards the car and the boxes of explosives. He takes off his hoodie, then his t-shirt, chucking them at Diego, who realizes that this is the first time he's seen Nathan without a shirt. In contrast to Diego's own muscular frame, Nathan is a bit soft around the edges, with a rounder, pudgier chest and stomach. He's hairier, too; dark fuzz on his chest and stomach, a clearly visible happy trail. His top surgery scars stick out more than Diego's own against his pale skin, and he's got...is that a belly-button piercing? Huh. When he turns back around, a large, colorful tattoo of a phoenix stretches across his shoulder blades and down the middle of his back. As he flexes his arms, the wings seem to move.

Nathan turns around, boxes of fireworks in hand, and blushes, his face turning bright pink. Partially out of respect, but mostly out of embarrassment, Diego quickly looks away. Nathan laughs.

“You're allowed to look at me, dumbass!” he says. “We're fucking dating!”

“I'm not a dumbass!” Diego retorts on instinct, but then he laughs, too. They're two grown-ass men, acting like Victorian-era sweethearts. That's objectively funny, even if the context makes it understandable why it's so awkward. “Why are you half-naked anyway?”

“Don't want my nice shirt to catch on fire.” Nathan shrugs. “Besides, you seem to like it.”

Diego doesn't know how to respond to that without looking like an idiot, so he just glares at Nathan, which only makes the other man laugh louder. He watches as his boyfriend walks back and forth across the parking lot, setting up the fireworks. Nathan clearly knows what he's doing, which isn't a surprise. Eventually, he has all the explosives set up, and he looks back at Diego with a grin, his hands beginning to glow with heat.

“Okay!” he yells. “I'm gonna start shooting them off now, so don't come over here!”

Diego gives Nathan a thumbs up. The moon is bright enough tonight that they can still see eachother relatively clearly across the lot. Preparing himself for what will obviously be some very intense noises, Diego covers his ears with his hands and looks towards the sky.

For the next half-hour, the sky is lit up with brightly-colored explosions as Nathan puts on his own personal fireworks show. Being fireproof, he's able to do things with the explosives that most other people would get seriously injured doing, like holding the packages as they explode and dancing underneath the falling embers. At first, it makes Diego a little nervous, but he's obviously not getting hurt. Not to mention he's also having the time of his life, laughing and whooping with happiness as he sets off explosion after explosion. It's amazing seeing him like this, purely in his element. Using his powers as a way of expressing himself instead of using them to hurt people.

It's in this moment, with Nathan gazing at the sky with bright eyes and glowing, soot-covered hands, his face a picture of childlike joy and awe, that Diego realizes that he's in love. And it's a little scary, but it feels good. It feels right, being with Nathan, making him happy. Because making Nathan happy makes Diego happy. Times like this make him happier than he's been in a long, long time.

Eventually, Nathan runs out of fireworks, the bright colors and smoke fading into the darkness, Nathan's hands no longer glowing with heat and light. He makes his way back over to Diego, a content and loving smile on his soot-stained face, and flops back down next to him. Diego can still feel the heat radiating off his boyfriend's body, but it's warm and comforting instead of hot and dangerous. The way he looks over at Diego, like Diego is the only person in the world that matters, makes Diego's heart nearly burst. And so he can't help but reach out and pull Nathan in. He can't help but kiss Nathan right on the lips.

Nathan squawks softly and almost jerks away, but he clearly wants this as much as Diego does, so he stays. He smells like sweat and night air and gunpowder, and his mouth tastes like chocolate. He's as soft as Diego imagined he'd be, and so, so warm. It's all so perfect, him and Nathan kissing, their hands touching and caressing eachother, drawing out little noises of pleasure. Diego wishes he could stop time and just live forever in this moment.

“Oh wow,” Nathan breathes, pulling away slowly, as if he doesn't want this to end, either. “So that's what kissing is like, huh?”

Diego's heart breaks as he realizes what Nathan is saying. That Diego was his first kiss. That no one has ever kissed him before. That Nathan Logan, who is so wonderful and fascinating and so, so worthy of love, had to wait nearly thirty years for someone to be brave enough to do something as simple as kiss him. Diego doesn't know what to say in response to that. He wants to apologize somehow, to reassure Nathan that he's someone worthy of being kissed. He wants to swear revenge on everyone who has ever been too afraid of this man to love him the way he deserves to be loved. Instead, he just kisses Nathan again. And again. And again.

“Hey, hey,” Nathan says eventually, giggling. “Slow down, loverboy. We should probably get going. I think it's nearly after midnight!”

  
Diego nods, reluctantly standing up, pulling Nathan up with him. Together, they gather the picnic items and the remains of the fireworks, bundling them up together in a pile that Diego promises himself he'll take out of his trunk as soon as possible. Nathan uses a half-empty water bottle to clean his hands and face of soot, and puts his shirt and hoodie back on.

On the way home, Nathan quickly falls asleep in the passenger seat, and that's how Diego learns that unfortunately, Nathan Logan snores. It's okay, though; it's not like they live together (not yet, anyway). He only has to put up with it for about two hours before finally pulling up alongside Nathan's apartment.

“Wake up, Nathan.”

His boyfriend raises his head and yawns loudly, a sleepy smile on his face as he notices Diego. Again, Diego feels his heart nearly burst. Nathan cautiously leans in, but hesitates. Diego decides to meet him halfway, cupping his cheek as they share another kiss, and another, and another, until Nathan protests that he really has to leave right now, man.

“I had a really, really good time, though,” he clarifies. “Totally awesome. Thanks.”

Diego watches as his boyfriend walks away, down the stairs into his apartment. He imagines a future where the night doesn't end here, where he and Nathan exit the car together and walk into the same apartment, where they sleep in the same bed. A future where Nathan doesn't feel like a danger, a future where he is loved and gets as many kisses as he desires. And unlike most of the futures that Diego has prepared for, this one sounds pretty damn good.

 


End file.
